Al Gore texts me about his finances

Al Gore seems to have a target on his back. The former vice president is the symbol of “global warming alarmism” to those who want to block the U.S. from taking effective action on climate change.

Whether it’s Bill O’Reilly or the Heartland Institute or a backbench Republican congresswoman or a blog run by a guy who cut his teeth by swift-boating John Kerry, Gore is the bogeyman. They want answers, I tell you! Yeah, we know — he’s a private citizen. But what has he got to hide?

OK, then. I sent him some questions — mostly questions that the right-wing journal Human Events said somebody ought to ask him. I think he was about as candid as one could expect from a private citizen. What do you think?

(For a fuller discussion bogeyman/hero status, check out this week’s Media Mayhem column, by yours truly, on the Mother Nature Network.)

Ken Edelstein: You are a partner in the venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins and a co-founder of the United Kingdom-based investment firm of Generation Investment Management, each of which stands to gain financially from greenhouse gas regulation. Please describe any other financial interests that you have in any other businesses that stand to profit from greenhouse gas regulation.
Al Gore: As a supporter of “sustainable capitalism” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122584367114799137.html) I have made long-term investments in “sustainable” companies in Europe, Asia, North America and South America, the vast majority of which are not directly involved with efforts to solve the climate crisis. I have also invested in some companies that have attempted and will continue to help solve the climate crisis.

Ken Edelstein: In October 2008, the New York Times Magazine featured a cover story on how Kleiner Perkins had invested $1 billion in 40 companies that would profit from new environmental and energy laws and regulations. What will be your share of any profits from these ventures?
Gore: First of all, my investments, as is true with all investments, carry risks. I earn a salary from KPCB, 100-percent of which goes to directly to a non-profit, the Alliance for Climate Protection.  My relationships with my business partners are confidential, but my intention is to continue to contribute most or all of what I earn from these investments to non-profit organizations, principally the Alliance for Climate Protection, that works to inform people in the U.S. and around the world about the climate crisis.  I also personally support a staff that spends most or all of their time trying to solve the climate crisis.

Edelstein: How much of your own money have you contributed to Kleiner Perkins, Generation Investment Management and other businesses that stand to profit from greenhouse gas regulation? If you have not contributed significant amounts of your own capital to these businesses, what, then, is your role in them? Are you a lobbyist? Are you the face of their public relations efforts?”
Gore: I have worked on the climate crisis, consistently, for thirty years. The investments I have made since entering the private sector are a reflection of my values.  Again, however, the vast majority of my investments have nothing to do directly with climate. I am co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, I am a senior partner at Kleiner Perkins, I have invested significant sums with both partnerships.

Edelstein: Your co-founder with Generation Investment Management is former Goldman Sachs partner David Blood. Goldman Sachs is lobbying for global warming legislation and is a part owner of the Chicago Climate Exchange, where carbon credits from cap-and-trade legislation would be traded. Do you or Generation Investment Management stand to benefit in anyway from these relationships?
Gore: With regards to Goldman Sachs, the answer is simply no.  We have no ownership interest or profit-sharing relationship of any kind with Goldman nor they with us. It is public knowledge that Generation Investment Management owns 1 percent of the Chicago Climate Exchange’s Parent Company.  So, to the extent that CCX does well, and to the extent this helps its parent company, CCX will benefit Generation and its clients.

Edelstein: Generation Investment Management’s web site says the firm provides investment advice to clients. Who are Generation Investment Management’s clients and how do they stand to profit from upcoming environmental and energy legislation and regulation?
Gore: We do not make information about our clients available to the public.

Edelstein: Will these clients share their profits with you and/or Generation Investment Management?”
Gore: No.  As is typical in the asset management business, they pay a management fee. What is not typical is that it is based on a three-year performance record, rather than quarterly or annual performance.

Edelstein: When you left public service in January 2001, your personal net worth was perhaps $2 million. In 2007, your personal net worth was reported to be on the order of $100 million. How much of this fortune is related, directly or indirectly, to your advocacy of legislation to reduce “global warming”?”
Gore: None.  Now that I am in private life, my family finances are private.  Virtually all that I have earned has come from companies in the media and information technology sector. Moreover, my wife and I have made substantial donations to support the Alliance for Climate Protection and its work to address the climate crisis. We have also made substantial contributions to The Climate Project, which also addresses the climate crisis.  I also support my personal staff, the majority of whom spend most or all of their time on global warming.

Edelstein: Finally, Human Events and others have complained that you and your family must use a tremendous amount of carbon in the new house and by traveling. I’m aware that he’s renovated the house and has purchased offsets, but the most specific, updated information about his personal carbon reduction efforts would be helpful.
Gore: My home is Gold LEED certificated (by the U.S. Green Building Council) powered with a geothermal system for heating and air conditioning and 33-solar photovoltaic panels.  We purchase electricity from the Green Power programs offered by our utility (which obtains the “green” electricity from wind and solar sources rather than fossil fuels).  We use the most energy efficient windows, appliances and other products for lighting and insulation.  We also participate in a program to become carbon neutral.  We drive hybrid-electric vehicles and fly commercially whenever it is possible.

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